Courtesy Kris Kilduff
The 2017 version of Restaurant Wars features 18 restaurants from across the Inland Northwest.
Pick a “side” during this weekend’s second annual Restaurant Wars
After it surpassed expectations during an inaugural run last year, the second inception of the local culinary competition and showcase known as Restaurant Wars is back, with more restaurants, more entertainment and more space.
Happening this Saturday, Sept. 30, on the outfield of Avista Stadium (last year’s debut event along Summit Parkway in Kendall Yards proved to be too small), the 2017 version of Restaurant Wars features 18 local restaurants (compared to last year’s eight; scroll down for a complete list) from across the Spokane area.
With those featured eateries separated into three “rations” categories — vegetarian, meat and gastropub — guests have the option to purchase tasting tickets for one, two or all three categories. Tickets ($17 each/advance; $20/gate) to each category offer six 3- to 4-ounce small plates from each category’s six restaurants.
Restaurant Wars organizer Kris Kilduff cautions that only 1,000 tickets per category are being sold, so those who plan to go to this year’s event should consider pre-purchasing online to ensure they get access to the categories of their choice. Remaining tasting tickets will be sold at the event, offering free admission and other attractions to entertain guests who choose to sample as many bites as they can, as well as people who want to enjoy a fall day outside.
The eight-hour, all-ages event includes a live music lineup, an on-site farmers/vendor market — including local food trucks, if you’re still hungry or miss tickets to one category — and a beer garden with nine local breweries and one cider maker.
The competitive nature of Restaurant Wars comes in the form of voting, both by guest judges and ticket holders, who have the option to vote for their favorite dishes in each of the three tasting categories they sample. One event-wide winner will also be chosen, Kilduff says.
To keep an element of surprise and anticipation for Restaurant Wars, the featured dishes each restaurant plans to serve in their respective categories are being kept under wraps until the day of the event. Kilduff hints that this year’s offerings are diverse and creative: “The gamut of food is going to be all over the place.”
Restaurant Wars II participating restaurants: The Onion, Manito Tap House, Prohibition Gastropub, Republic Kitchen + Taphouse, Palouse Bar and Grill, Timber Gastro Pub, Wandering Table, Tortilla Union, Wasabi Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar, Zona Blanca, Forty-One South, Durkin's Liquor Bar, Clover, Gilded Unicorn, Bruncheonette, Max at Mirabeau, Casper Fry, Chaps
Help fight local hunger with this season’s apple harvest
Get outside and enjoy the crisp, early fall weather as you help fight food insecurity in the Inland Northwest during several upcoming apple gleans with the Spokane Edible Tree Project. The local nonprofit, founded in 2014, is hosting a series of volunteer work sessions in October to pick unwanted apples from a local orchard that will then be distributed to hunger relief programs and schools across Eastern Washington.
The Spokane Edible Tree Project is partnering with Washington’s statewide hunger relief agency Northwest Harvest for the three gleans; a glean is the act of harvesting unwanted and unused produce.
Volunteers are needed to help pick as many apples as possible from an orchard in Spokane Valley, on property owned by a local church. The gleans are scheduled for Sat, Oct. 7 (10:30 am-1 pm), Mon, Oct. 9 (3:30-6 pm) and Sat, Oct. 21 (1-4 pm); interested volunteers can learn more on Spokane Edible Tree Project’s website, or by calling organizer Nicki Thompson at 509-209-2890.
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